Post date: Oct 23, 2011 7:8:20 PM
Rescuers clamber over rubble of collapsed buildings calling out for people trapped in the debris after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey, killing up to 1,000 people.
VAN, TURKEY (OCTOBER 23, 2011) DHA- Survivors of an earthquake in southeast Turkey cried out in grief and terror for those buried under the rubble on Sunday (October 23), while others clambered over collapsed buildings searching for signs of life.
This Reuters journalist arrived in the stricken city of Van to see police holding back a crowd of distraught people from the scene of destruction.
Rescuers working under floodlights tried to reach those trapped and ambulance crews waited near two collapsed buildings. Other buildings next to them were unscathed.
Bystanders reckoned there were 20 people trapped in that building and around 70 people in a crumpled six-storey apartment block. Seven had been dragged clear, they told me.
One elderly rescue worker sat exhausted, tears streaming through the dust covering his face, until people led him away.
Trucks and cranes were used to shift the rubble. Some rescuers used drills to break concrete slabs into more manageable sizes for lifting machinery.
Normal electricity supplies were cut by the earthquake, so rescuers powered their equipment with generators.
In the bitterly cold night, the situation appeared chaotic, with too few officials on hand to manage as aftershocks continued to rock the city.
Some people sat outside their houses on the street. The centre of the city was pitch black due to the power outage. Some dragged suitcases along the streets.
Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute estimated that between 500 and 1,000 people could have perished in the 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
Around 10 buildings collapsed in Van city and about 25-30 buildings were brought to the ground in the nearby district of Ercis, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters.
My photographer colleague in Ercis, a town some 100 km north at the epicentre of the tremor, where casualties were expected to be highest, said it was difficult to assess the damage there because of the darkness.
He saw residents working alongside the emergency services.